The Standard suspension is tuned for a balance of ride comfort and precise handling, Hill said, while the optional F55 Magnetic Selective Ride Control suspension features magneto-rheological dampers that detect road surfaces and adjust the damping rates to those surfaces almost instantly for optimal ride and body control.

The Z51 Performance Package "brings the 2005 Corvette Coupe very close to the same performance level as the widely admired Z06." (Photo: General Motors)

The F55 system has been improved for the C6, allowing drivers more differentiation in character between its Tour and Sport choices.

Hill said the Z51 Performance Package ''brings the 2005 Corvette Coupe very close to the same performance level as the widely admired Z06.''

The Z51 uses more aggressive dampers and springs, larger stabilizer bars, and larger, cross-drilled brake rotors for optimum track performance capability while still providing what Hill called ''a well-controlled and comfortable ride.''

Racetrack testing proved that a C6 with the Z51 suspension almost equals the lap time of a C5 Z06, which again makes you wonder what the upgraded performance version of the C6 will be like.

Whatever criticism comes the C6's way will probably involve its style, since dropping the pop-up headlamps in favor of exposed Xenon hi-intensity lamps will strike many people as sacrilegious, and the Corvette now has an undeniable European flair, which may not seem right in the great American sportscar that's built in Kentucky.

Not everyone may like that it's shorter (by five inches) and narrower (by an inch), since this decreases the car's famous predatory hood. It's not exactly effete or anything, but the C6 does have a different stance.